revision booklet early cinema

8/18/2019 Revision Booklet Early Cinema

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Revision Booklet

EARLYCINEMA: 1895

– 1915The Lumiere Brothers, early genre films and

the development of the American film industry


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Early Cinema – An overview

Where does cinema

come from? What drives

it? Truth, escapism,

verisimilitude, ideas?

Today we are aware of

red carpets, box office

figures and event-

movies. Innovation and

passion bring the ideas

through images and

audio. If we go back to

the start of film, we seethat it was this passion

and innovation that led

to the new (silent) art form.

1888 | The Birth of the Movie Camera and

Projector

It starts with the movie camera. The first patentedmoving image camera was designed by Louis Le

Prince in 1888, using paper bands and celluloid film.

However the first known one that actually worked

was by the great inventor, Thomas Edison.

The birth of early cinema began withshots. Thomas Edison (1847-1931), based in New Jersey,

East Coast of USA, was an inventor and he invented the light bulb and the phonograph.

Funfairs, circuses, magicians and still images were the way that people entertained themselves.

American, George Eastman came up with the idea of film on a roll. Edison and his colleague

found they could create the illusion of movement when they spun images in a box - movingimage. ‘The Black Maria’ was Edison’s film production studio and is widely known as the first

movie studio.

Edison realised that light would fuel this art form. He believed that cinema was about light and

dark. InThe Kiss (1896) he created a short moving image piece which he felt every one could

relate to (see image). Individuals were able to view this, one at a time, through a box – the

kinetoscope.

Between 1889 and 1895 several inventors invented (and patented) their version of a movie

camera. In 1889 William Friese-Greene was able to take ten photographs a second with this‘chronophotographic’ camera. When he gave a demonstration to the public in 1890 the low frame

rate and its unreliable nature meant that it met an underwhelmed response. The ‘Beater

Movement’ was constructed by Georges Demeny (and his employee Etienne Marey) in 1893 (film


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width of 60mm). Then in 1894-5, Max Skladanowsky introduced us to the ‘Bioscop’ projector.

This was the first duplex projecting machine and an 1896 wide-film projector can be seen at the

Science Museum in London.

In Lyon, France, the Lumière brothers Auguste and Louis believed that cinema could be bigger…


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!e L"miere Brot!ers The Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, were sons of

well-known Lyons based portrait painter Antoine Lumiere.

They were both technically minded and excelled in science

subjects and were sent to Technical School.

Antoine was a keen business man and saw a future in the

photography business so turned his artistic endeavours to

the establishment of a photography business –

manufacturing and supplying photographic supplies. Louis

joined him in this business venture and began

experimenting with the photographic equipment.

At the age of 17, Louis developed a new ‘dry plate’ process

for film development. This innovation help boost his father’s

photography business and within a few years (1894), theLumieres were producing 15 million plates a year! Even at

this young age Louis was showing real technical promise.

Antoine (now a successful business man) was invited to a demonstration of Edison’s kinetoscope

in Paris. Excited by what he had seen, he gave Louis a piece of the film from the kinetoscope and

told him to try and replicate the technology. Louis worked with Auguste through the winter of

1894 experimenting with the technology. They wanted to overcome the limitations of Edison’s

kinetoscope and make a device which was smaller and could be viewed by more than one person

at a time.

By 1895 the brother had invented the Cinematographe – a camera, projector and printer all in

one compact machine. This machine was patented on February 13th 1895. It was lightweight,

hand-cranked and worked at the slower rate of 16fps (compared to Edison’s 48fps). This meant

the machine ran quieter than the kinetoscope. Louis incorporated the principle if intermittent

movement using a device similar to that found in a sewing machine – this meant the film

travelled more smoothly through the projector.

22nd March 1895 – 44 de Rennes, Paris: The Lumiere brothers previewed their films for the first

time. The images were projected on a white sheet to a group on invited guests. The first screening

open to the public followed later that year on28th

December at the Grand Café on Paris’sBoulevard de Capuchines. The audience were shown around ten short films including ‘La Sortie

de usines Lumiere’ (1894) and L’Arroseur arrose (1895). The brothers were quick to patent their

cinematographe outside of France and had applied for an English patent on April 18th 1895.

Much excitement and interest developed around this new technology and demand grew. The

brothers started opening theatres to show their films (which became known as cinemas). In the

first four months of 1896 they had opened cinematographe theatres in London, Brussels,

Belgium and New York.

Louis and Auguste continued to make more films/actualities and used their workforce to also go

out and make films and sell them abroad. In 1897 they had 358 films in their catalogue and by1903 they had 2113 – less than 50 had been made by the brothers personally. Their interest

waned in the early 1900s and Louis famously said that ‘cinema was an invention without any

future’. But undoubtedly they had paved the way for other pioneering filmmakers.


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#ro$"%tion& $istri'"tion an$

e(!i'itionProduction

• The Lumieres invented their own camera (the cinematographe) so were able to producetheir own films. Their earliest work was shot in locations in their proximity (e.g. their

factory, their garden etc…) and they often ‘starred’ in their own films with family members

or their workers.

• The films were made using the hand-cranked cinematographe. Cameras were stationary

and generally captured movement from one angle and shot type – neutral, long shot.

Distribution

•

The Lumiere brothers dispatched films and projectionists to every continent with suchspeed that within one to two years of their first screenings in Paris audiences in most

countries had seen their famous ‘The Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station’ film.

• In 1896 the Lumieres distributed films to Italy, Russia, Hungary, Romania, Sebia,

Denmark, Canada, India, Argentina and Cuba among others. Their films were reaching

audiences worldwide. In comparison, the UK had distributed to just the US and Germany

in 1896.

• By 1900 their films had even reached the palaces of the Middle East.

• The Lumieres fiercely protected their technology and were aware that in order to ensure

their films sold, their cameras could not be shown to other who may imitate the idea.

When they sent workers to other countries with the cinematographe, it was on the strictunderstanding that the camera/projector/printer was operated only by their workers.

• In 1902, film equipment and production company, Pathe, acquired the rights to the

Lumiere brothers’ patents and set about designing an improved studio camera to make

their own films. Their technology coupled with aggressive merchandising of their films

made them powerful distributers who possessed a huge share of the international market.

Exhibition

• As mentioned previously, the Lumieres are credited for holding the first ever publicscreening of a film to an audience of more than one person – Edison’s kinetoscope could

only be viewed by an individual at a time. Because of this they are often credited with

being the inventors of cinemas.

• In addition to distributing their films abroad, the Lumieres also opened cinematographe

cinemas in various countries such as the UK, Belgium and America. These cinemas

housed their cinematographes and would play only the films they had made – the perfect

way to make money and create demand for their films!

• After the Lumieres’ patents had been acquired by Pathe, cinematographe films were

released and exhibited by this growing company. In 1902 Pathe expanded to London and

they established a chain of cinemas. By 1909, Pathe had over 200 cinemas in France and

Belgium.


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E(em)lar Answer: *+,-.How important were technological factors in enabling the production, distribution

and exhibition of the early films of the Lumiere brothers?


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E(aminer/sComments:Mark – 27/30 Level 4

The response is a very knowledgeable and fluent one. The candidate is able to demonstrate

knowledge and understanding of many of the key facts and events relevant to the terms of the

question. The factual knowledge presented is accurate. This is a very secure Level 4 response – it

offers a clearly relevant and sustained response. To achieve a slightly higher mark, the response

could have attempted to bring more of a sense of debate to bear. The terminology used (for

example, when discussing the issue of the applicability of technological patents in Europe) is

confident and accurate. In its precision in marshalling relevant facts and events, the response

demonstrates excellence in the application of historical and technological factors and in so doing

also demonstrates excellent knowledge of aspects of industrial and social practice.


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Li2e o2 an Ameri%an ireman – 19.-3E$win 4 #orter

Edwin S. Porter was an early 6lm )ioneer& most 2amo"s as a $ire%tor wit! !omas E$ison7s

Com)any e oine$ t!e ;4 Navy in 189- an$ s!owe$ a


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So how was this film important/significant?

Edwin S Porter demonstrates in this piece of work some visual aids which have become the most

common way to communicate through film. He is credited with the creation of the ‘shot’ as an

element of a larger scene. Shots are the most basic unit of narrative film. Porter created

‘dissolves’ as a way to gradually transition from one scene to another – this helped to suggest a

passage of time had passed. Though not the first to use double-exposure, he used it in a way tohelp the audience understand the abstract idea that we could see the fireman’s dream. Written

in the synopsis at the time of this film’s release were the words: “It would be difficult for the

exhibitor to conceive of the amount of work involved and the number of rehearsals necessary to


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produce a film of this description.” The

film was ambitious for its time and

paved the way for even more ambitious

works of narrative film-making – even

Porter, a year later, built on the skills

seen in this film and produced ‘The

Great Train Robbery’.

istri'"tionBelow are some of the advertisements

sent to cinemas to sell Porter’s 6

minute film to exhibitors:

C"t to lon< s!ot o2 6re!o"se e(terior an$

en

'"t 2rom a $ierent view)oint #orter !as yet

to $is%over %ross@%"ttin


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n giving t!is descri"tion to t!e "u#lic$ we un!esitatingly

clai% &or it t!e strongest %otion "icture attraction ever

atte%"ted in t!is lengt! o& 'l%. t will #e di(cult &or t!e

e)!i#itor to conceive t!e a%ount o& work involved and

t!e nu%#er o& re!earsals necessary to turn out a 'l% o&

t!is kind. *e were co%"elled to enlist t!e services o&

t!e 're de"art%ents o& &our di+erent cities$ ,ew -ork$

,ewark$ range$ and East range$ ,..$ and a#out 300

're%en a""ear in t!e various scenes o& t!is 'l%.

ro% t!e 'rst conce"tion o& t!is wonder&ul series o&

"ictures it !as #een our ai% to "ortray 1Li&e o& an

%erican ire%an1 wit!out e)aggeration$ at t!e sa%e

ti%e e%#odying t!e dra%atic situations and s"ectacular

e+ects w!ic! so greatly en!ance a %otion "icture

"er&or%ance.

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de"art%ent is known t!roug!out t!e universe$ and t!e&a%e o& t!e %erican 're%an is ec!oed around t!e

entire world. e is known to #e t!e %ost e)"ert$ as well

as t!e #ravest$ o& all 're 'g!ters. !is 'l% &ait!&ully and

accurately de"icts !is t!rilling and dangerous li&e$

e%"!asi5ing t!e "erils !e su#6ects !i%sel& to w!en

!u%an li&e is at stake. *e s!ow t!e world in t!is 'l% t!e

every %ove%ent o& t!e #rave 're%en and t!eir "er&ectly

trained !orses &ro% t!e %o%ent t!e %en lea" &ro% t!eir

#eds in res"onse to an alar% until t!e 're is

e)tinguis!ed and a wo%an and c!ild are rescued a&ter%any 'erce #attles wit! a%e and s%oke. 8elow we give

a descri"tion o& eac! o& t!e seven scenes w!ic! %ake u"

t!is %ost wonder&ul o& all 're scenes$ 1Li&e o& an

%erican ire%an.1

This flm is sold in one length only. Send inyour complete order quick, Get the flm and Get the money. This is the only complete frescene ever attempted where the men areshown leaving their beds, and a genuinehitch taken inside the engine house. AMoney Getter is what this flm has been pronounced. ou need it in your businessbecause it will be the strongest card on your


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!e Musketeers o& Pig lley –

9:92 ;Reviews and notes

The first gangster film, THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG

ALLEY established several basic characteristics of the

genre. Like the films of the twenties and thirties, it sprang

from newspaper stories. Lillian Gish recalled that D.W.

Griffith got the idea forMUSKETEERS from a newspaper

article. In 1912, there was a series of gangster killings and

vice scandals that implicated the police. The newspapers headlined these events, and the climax came

with the shooting of a gambler named Herman Rosenthal. The social realism of stories and situations

based on newspaper reports that we have come to associate with the gangster genre began when the

Biograph Company capitalised on these headlines and the subsequent cries for reform.

Griffith shot the film on location and cast actual gangsters like 'Kid' Brood and 'Harlem Tom' Evans to play

in the rival gangs. According to the Biograph Bulletin of October 31, 1912: "This picture production, which

does not run very strong as to plot, is simply intended to show vividly the doings of the gangster type of

people."

The episodic plot begins in "New York's other side ", "where a poor musician goes off to improve his

fortune." On the way home, he shows his earnings to a friend in the street. The Snapper Kid, Chief of the

Musketeers, sees the full wallet, follows the musician, hits him over the head, and takes the money. After

recovering, the musician goes out to find his money, leaving the little lady, his girlfriend, worrying about

his safety and the rent. A friend comes to cheer up the little lady and takes her to a dance - the gangster's ball. A respectable-looking gangster invites the little lady for a drink and slips a drug into it. The Snapper

Kid watches the scene and stops the little lady before she downs the drink, thus provoking a gang war.

During the shootout, the musician sees the gangster and grabs his money back during the confusion of

the battle. The police break up the fight and arrest everyone but the Snapper Kid. He escapes to the little

lady's flat, reminds her that he saved her from being drugged and invites her out. She refuses and says

she'll stay with her husband. The gangster shrugs it off, thinking she must be crazy to prefer the

musician, and leaves. A cop nabs him and begins to arrest him for taking part in the gun battle, but the

Snapper Kid says he has an alibi - he was visiting his friends. The little lady and the musician back up the

Kid's story because, as the title card reads, "One good turn deserves another". The Kid makes a gesture of

friendship with his hands and goes out. After a title, "Links in the system", a mysterious hand slides into

the picture from out of frame and gives the Snapper Kid some money. The couple embrace, and the film

ends.

Griffith pictured the Snapper Kid sympathetically. Elmer Booth portrays a likeable, tough, coarse thief and

killer. Lillian Gish has said that Elmer Booth was a distinct precursor of James Cagney. Like gangsters

played by Cagney, the Snapper Kid is short, powerful, explosive, and expressive with his body, face and

gestures. He is violent and quick to act in movements that snap out like his name. He is good-natured

about the little lady's rejection, sly enough to avoid going to jail, wise enough not to fight in the Big Boss's

place, and constantly putting plans into action to get what he wants. He exudes a healthy self-confidence

and is proud of the snappy way he dresses. Griffith's mixing of a firm sense of realistic detail and a

romantic bias have shaded the Chief of the Musketeers as more chivalrous than the movie gangsters who

followed, but the Snapper Kid launched the central character of the genre - a sympathetic gangster - and

the movie gangsters who followed shared many of his traits.


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The Lower East Side locations in Musketeers provide an appropriate setting for the birth of the genre. "New

York's other side", as a title describes the setting, is comprised of dingy rooms and hallways, saloons,

narrow streets teeming with immigrants, and underworld alleyways filled with garbage cans, dust, and

debris. City textures and dark places predominate. The action takes place around the bottoms of

buildings, and we never see the sky. There are no country or uptown alternatives for the Snapper Kid - no

penthouse aspirations. The gangster genre began in the slums, and the people who lived there appreciated

the film. Billy Bitzer, who was Griffith's cameraman regularly and who shotMUSKETEERS, recalled an

early preview of the film: "Another way we learned was through tryouts. Tryouts were usually in remotetheatres, and it was to our advantage to be there. One memorable tryout was held in a converted store in

the Lower East Side Jewish section of Manhattan. It was in 1912 for The Musketeers of Pig Alley, an early

gangster film with Elmer Booth, much of which was filmed in that locale. We got very strong and

favourable reactions - it was one of the first realistic films, one of our best."

The criminal world depicted inMUSKETEERS is one of rival gangs, armed robbery, dodging the police,

saloons, drugs, dances and alleyways peopled with underworld milieu, a gangster protagonist and a

pictorially realistic urban setting,MUSKETEERS contributed several other basic elements to the genre.

The gang, of course, is an essential element of gangster films. The Snapper Kid's gang includes sevenarmed henchmen, sporting scars, derby hats, broken noses, and a cocky willingness to mix it up. And, as

in most gangster films that followed, there is one gang member who is the protagonist's sidekick, played by

Harry Carey inMUSKETEERS. He is the main character's constant companion until the end of the film;

his function is to back up the gangster in times of trouble and generally to amplify the protagonist's

personality and actions. When the Snapper Kid swaggers, Harry Carey hitches up his pants and echoes

the gesture... Another of the gangster's defining characteristics is that he takes what he wants, whether

it's money, an occupied chair at the Gangster's Ball, or a woman. InMUSKETEERS, after a title that

reads, "The Little Lady meets the Snapper Kid", the gangster sees the girl come out of her room and grabs

her by the arm to demand a kiss. But the little lady is tougher than most of her sisters who followed in the

genre. She energetically slaps him hard in the face, thereby winning the first round in the battle ofinterpersonal violence that was to characterise relations between men and women in the genre. This fiery

outburst further intrigues the Kid, who pursues the little lady throughout the film until she tells him she

already has a man...

Griffith also established the iconographic tradition of the Gangster's Ball inMUSKETEERS. The sign

outside reads: "Great Dance of the Jolly Three. Admission 25cts." Inside, the hall is filled with animated

couples dancing to some lively music. The dancers project a happy and comfortable sensuality that is

infectious, and the friend who brought the little lady is swept into the dancing crowd as soon as they

arrive. The dance hall has an adjoining saloon where other dancers are refreshing themselves, and both

rooms are ruled over by a gangster known as 'the Big Boss', who is feared by the other gangsters, including

the Snapper Kid. The scene typically ends in a fight over a woman. This scene appropriately entitled "The

Little Lady at the Gangster's Ball", has appeared in nearly every gangster film to followMUSKETEERS.

Although the nightclubs or speakeasies were to become gaudier, the dancers more drunk and lustful, and

the music characteristic of the Roaring Twenties - so that we usually associate this scene with the Jazz

Age - the basic elements are present in the first gangster film. The Gangster's Ball lightens the violent,

competitive, and hostile tones that dominate gangster dramas, and it defines the gangster milieu in terms

of city night life.

Another essential iconographic scene that appears inMUSKETEERS, one that is shared with other action

genres, is the shootout. Titled "the Gangsters' Feudal War", the first gangster shootout begins with the

Snapper Kid and his gangster rival rounding up their gangs. The Snapper Kid spins the barrel of his

revolver to make sure that it’s fully loaded, shoves it into his pocket, and leads his gang to the fight. The

gangs stalk each other through saloons and alleyways ducking around corners and fences and hiding

behind garbage cans. The not-so-innocent bystanders who realise what is going to happen run for cover.


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When the gangs run into each other in a litter-strewn alleyway, there is a short and explosive gunfight.

Billows of gun smoke obscure the fighting gangsters, parting occasionally to reveal some wounded gunman

staggering and falling or others aggressively moving forward and blasting away with their revolvers. This

deafening battle ends when squads of police come rushing in to haul the survivors off to jail. The

ritualistic weapons check, the deadly certain stalking, the explosive gun battle recur again and again, with

a number of variations in the gangster films that followed. As inMUSKETEERS the shootout scene has

usually been presented as the climax of the movie, and audiences expect it to be the most violent and

terrible moment of the film.

THE MUSKETEERS OF PIG ALLEY launched the genre with an episodic slice of pictorial realism,

characteristic of the social realism of the Progressive era, muckraking, instead of a strong melodramatic

plot. Griffith began the genre with a sympathetic gangster and several characteristics that were to become

basic to gangster films. By 1912 the gangster film was securely rooted in American film history.

- Eugene Rosow, Born to Lose: The Gangster Film in America, OUP New York, 1978.


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E)e%"lar nswer? Early@ine%a ;9A:B – 9:9B>

Choose two films that were noted as significant in early cinema history.Explain why the two films you have chosen are significant.

The two films which I believe were significant during this time period are Edwin Porter’s ‘Life of

an American Fireman’ (1903) and DW Griffith’s ‘The Musketeers of Pig Alley’ (1912). These films

are significant for different reasons: the former pioneered continuity editing and was one of the

first films to utilise editing to form a narrative. The second established the codes and

conventions of the ‘gangster’ genre film. The reasons for their significance differ but the outcome

is the same – they both helped to shape the film making process for years to follow.

‘Life of an American Fireman’ was shot by Porter who worked as a director for Edison’s

Manufacturing Company. It was a mixture of real life footage of the fire brigade and staged

action. Film was a new medium and little had been seen in terms of extended narratives. Edison

and the Lumiere Brothers (among others) had focussed on showing the audience the wonder of a

moving image and narrative was not the focus for the first few years of film making. Georges

Melies pushed the film industry further forward with unique narratives and special effects.

However, if we were to look at Melies’ 1902 film, ‘Le Voyage dans la Lune’, whist we can see

innovative special effects for the time and a narrative (of sorts!), editing does not really contribute

to creating a reality for the viewer. For example, the transitions from shot to shot show movement

from one set up to another – it is sometimes difficult to connect the last shot to the next. Thereare also no intercuts or variety of camera shots and angles. This is why Porter’s ‘The Life of an

American Fireman’ (released the following year) was significant.

With Porter’s film we see a clear narrative which is connected from scene to scene. Editing is the

tool used to form this narrative structure. The film starts with innovative use of double exposure

(double exposure had been pioneered by Melies in 1898) to suggest to the audience that we were

seeing a man dreaming of a woman and child (perhaps his family). As he wakes the circular

image disappears, making it apparent to the viewer that this was his dream. This was a

technique that could never be replicated on stage – Porter had used double exposure in a unique

way which contributed to the understanding of the situation and character. It was more than

just a novelty.

Next we see an insert close up shot of a fire alarm being pulled. Here Porter uses detail to make

the meaning clear. This, coupled with the next shot of a firehouse interior and men leaping from

their beds, makes the narrative clear and also creates dramatic tension. This close up gives the

audience the detail required to establish clear meaning as to why in the following shot we see

men leaping from their beds. This attention to detail had rarely been used before. Although

Porter is not responsible for using the first ever cut to a close up (that can be attributed to

British film maker GA Smith in 1901), it was the first time a close up had been edited with a

series of other shots which slowly build a clear narrative. If we considering removing this close

up of the alarm being pulled it would create confusion as to why the men leap from their beds

and start getting ready.


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What follows are a series of long shots cut together to depict the journey from firehouse to the

burning building. The cuts which show the fire brigade on their journey really portray a sense of

passing time. Fades are used to suggest the passage of time and each shot has the brigade

moving from the right-hand side of the screen and to the left-hand side – this helps to create the

illusion of the journey. This is one of the earliest examples of continuity and the construction of

space through the use of editing. This is particularly significant as these elements form the basis

of film making even today.

Porter’s film is often cited as the first example of cross-cutting. However, in Porter’s original 1903

release cross-cutting was not employed and the sequence of the woman’s rescue is played once

from the building’s interior and then again from the exterior. Porter realised that this took the

audience out of the reality of the piece and saw the merits of showing the audience the interior

first and then the fireman approaching from an exterior view – cutting back and forth created the

tension required for this sequence (something he learned from his 1903 film ‘the Great Train

Robbery’). The film was recut and re-released with these edits in place. Again, Porter had given

the world another significant development of film language which still is used today.

The second film I would say was significant to early cinema history is DW Griffiths’ ‘TheMusketeers of Pig Alley’. This film is regarded as the first example of the ‘gangster’ genre on film.

Genre within film was slowly starting to be established through media language (for example,

Melies’ Trip to the Moon had elements of science fiction/fantasy and Porter’s The Great Train

Robbery had the look of what would come to be a western). However, if look closely at ‘The

Musketeers of Pig Alley’ as a modern audience, we can still see recognisable features which

signify a gangster film.

Griffith worked first as an actor and was even directed by Edwin Porter. He got into directing

mainly by coincidence but was soon to become a prolific film maker often credited with making

Hollywood’s first ever film and America’s first feature length film (‘Birth of a Nation’). Prior to thishowever was ‘The Musketeers of Pig Alley’ shot and released in 1912. The film was shot on

location in New York City. This was significant because it gave the film a gritty reality that could

not be replicated by indoor studios. The camera stays neutral and the sky is never seen – this

helps to create a feeling of being trapped in the underworld. Mise-en-scene is also used to create

this dingy and oppressive atmosphere – bins and empty crates litter the narrow alley ways and

crowds of unsavoury looking characters mill about. This ‘underworld’ of criminals has become

commonplace in gangster films since – anything from the seedy bars in ‘Goodfellas’ to the back

streets of ‘The Departed’. This shows how significant this film was in establishing the genre.

The look of the gangster himself was first constructed in this film and has continued to be used

in countless other subsequent gangster films. Snapper Kid and his gang are dressed in sharp

suits and Griffith frames the three men in a mid-shot to show them as they adjust their hats

and ‘saunter’ off in a cocky manner. If you look at films such as ‘The Godfather’ and ‘Casino’ we

see the very same looks being replicated – again showing the impact that this film has had on

the genre. Griffith actually cast real gangsters to act in the picture – the sallow look of the

gangster with sinister smiles and dark features has also endured over the years.

Finally, Griffith gave us the classic gangster shoot-out. We see the classic gun-loading shot

where the Snapper Kid spins the barrel of his gun and shoves into his pocket – a glamourizing of

violence/weapons (see most action or gangster films). The Snapper Kid slowly stalks the enemy –

Griffith uses a particularly effective close-up which allows the audience to connect with the

Snapper Kid and empathise with him. This is also something which has lasted within the genre –


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despite gangster films being entirely made up of villains in essence, there is always one character

(an anti-hero) which the audience can connect with. Here we see the beginnings of that concept.

As you can see, here we have two different films in terms of tone and narrative but each are

significant in their own way and have definitely played a part in shaping cinema and film

language into what it is today.


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!e Birt! o2 ollywoo$Shifting from the East Coast to the West

Coast:

The projectors were the real reason that the West

Coast is now another word for the movies -Hollywood.

Hollywood is a district or suburb of Los Angeles in

California. The name of the district is now used as

another word for blockbuster movies or popular

American film.

It was once an agricultural area due mainly to the

crops and great weather. The name comes from one

of the landowner’s wives originally as the name of a500 acre plot.

We know that the East Coast of the States (New York) had Edison and the original movie

cameras. The hardware, or to be more specific, the patents of the projectors and cameras (like

the ‘Latham Loop’ for example, which allowed slack in the projector so the film would be less

likely to snap and virtually all projectors used from 1905 onwards) meant that filming near

Edison’s headquarters (in New Jersey) meant that company agents could seize and destroy

cameras if the film makers did not own (pay for) the rights for the cameras and/or projectors.

As a result, by 1912 most of the major film companies moved to Southern California around or

in Los Angeles. Southern Californian offered a variety of landscapes which were cheap to rent

and great weather for the majority of the year.

Director DW Griffith was the first to make a ‘motion’ picture in Hollywood,In Old California

(1910), and it was filmed in the village for

Biograph Company. He was an actor turned

director who wanted to make films for more than

just the working classes. He wanted to bring

realistic performances to the screen and saw

film as an art form.

Distribution and control of the

market:

From around 1910 onwards, a number of film

companies set up business in and around the

small suburb of Hollywood to the west of Los

Angeles. Within a decade, the system they created came to dominate the cinema—not only in the

United States—but throughout the world. Heads of Hollywood studios quickly recognized that

they could make more money if they expanded to reach foreign audiences too. Simple economics,

right? Increase the demand for films and you’ll have to increase the supply of films—therebymaking more money. Often if a film didn’t make up what it cost to make it in America, it could

easilymake up the money (and even make a profit!) by showing it to foreign audiences.


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Having recognized this, studio heads such as Adolph Zukor (founder of Paramount Pictures) put

up a tough fight to make sure that foreign countries permitted Hollywood corporations to import

their films into other countries without any constraints. Soon Hollywood films were shown in

every country in Europe, in the Soviet Union, and in several countries in Asia and South

America.

Foreign countries quickly began to realize that imports of Hollywood films were overrunning their

own national cinemas. This was bad not only because it hurt their own country’s film economy, but they began to fear that Hollywood was beginning to imperialistically force American culture

upon their countries and rob them of their national heritage. Many countries responded by

placing quotas upon American films, which means that they began to set a limit on how many

American films could be imported into the country. However, it wasn’t long before Hollywood had

soon overcame those obstacles, too. For instance, England created a policy that only a certain

number of Hollywood films could be imported in proportion to the number of British films which

were made. Hollywood bypassed that barrier by simply setting up some production companies in

England, thereby qualifying those productions as “British.”

As a result of all these steps taken on account of Hollywood executives, American films began tosaturate foreign screens until finally they became the only films being shown on most foreign

shores.

World War I

World War I was another factor that contributed to Hollywood’s eventual dominance over the

foreign film-viewing market. In 1914, Archduke Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, thus

triggering the First World War. Before long, the face of the European continent was enveloped in

war.

The war stopped virtually all film production in Europe. Suddenly the price of materials for filmequipment became extremely expensive and film companies could no longer afford to make films.

Additionally, many film crew members were drafted to fight in the war, emptying studios of their

personnel. Several studios were converted into temporary barracks for soldiers and companies

that made film stock and camera equipment were changed into factories for making war

supplies.

The United States, by contrast, were largely insulated from the effects of World War I since it was

not fought on U.S. soil and since the U.S. remained neutral in the war until 1917, quite late in

the war. Hollywood studio executives took advantage of a weakened foreign competition to fill the

theatres with their films.

Talent Poaching

And the final contributor to U.S. success is the fact that Hollywood quite literally stole the talent

from other countries. Whenever an actor or actress was successful in a foreign country,

Hollywood executives would offer these actors glittering salaries if they would come to Hollywood

and begin making films for them. When Hollywood producers “poached” acting talent from other

national industries, it not only weakened their competitors, but it also recruited the affections

and loyalties of foreign populations, which might account for the appeal of American films

abroad.

It was not just actors who were recruited from foreign industries, but also technical workers of

all kinds, most notably directors and cameramen. It was a logical business move for an industry


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E(!i'itionIn the early 1900s, motion pictures ("flickers") were no longer innovative

experiments. They soon became an escapist entertainment medium for the

working-class masses, and one could spend an evening at the cinema for a

cheap entry fee. Kinetoscope parlors, lecture halls, and storefronts were

often converted intonickelodeons, the first real movie theatres. The normal

admission charge was a nickel (sometimes a dime). Nickel- was attached to

the Greek word for theatre -- "odeon." Hence the namenickelodeon. They

usually remained open from early morning to midnight.

The first nickelodeon, a small storefront theatre or dance hall converted to view films, was

opened in Pittsburgh by Harry Davis and John Harris in June of 1905, showing The Great

Train Robbery. Urban, foreign-born, working-class, immigrant audiences loved the cheap form

of entertainment and were the predominant cinema-goers. One-reel shorts, silent films,

melodramas, comedies, or novelty pieces were usually accompanied with piano playing, sing-along songs, illustrated lectures, other kinds of 'magic lantern' slide shows, skits, penny arcades,

or vaudeville-type acts. Standing-room only shows lasted between ten minutes and an hour. The

demand for more and more films increased the volume of films being produced and raised profits

for their producers.

But newspaper critics soon denounced their sensational programs (involving seduction, crime,

sex and infidelity) as morally objectionable and as the cause of social unrest and criminal

behaviour - and they called for censorship. They also criticized the unsanitary and unsafe

conditions in the often makeshift nickelodeons. By the early 20th century, nickelodeons were

being transformed into more lavishmovie palaces (see more below) in metropolitan areas. By1908, there were approximately 8,000 neighbourhood theatres.

UK Cinema Screens

In the UK we can see a steady increase in the number of cinema screens (see table below). This

increase implies the popularity of the new medium of film and tells us that films were in

demand.

Year Number of screens

1912 4000

1913 Not available

1914 3170

1915 3300

1916 3450

1917 3600

1918 3750

1919 3925

1920 39411921 4100

1922 4125

1923 4150

http://www.filmsite.org/grea.htmlhttp://www.filmsite.org/grea.htmlhttp://www.filmsite.org/grea.htmlhttp://www.filmsite.org/grea.html


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!e 4t"$io 4ystem The studio system was a big part of the

success of Classic Hollywood. It was a

system that made sure that the biggest

studios in Hollywood were in total control

of the movies they made and that the

movies would be distributed.

The biggest studios at that time were

divided in two groups. ‘The Big Five’: MGM,

Paramount, Warner Bros., RKO and Fox

and ‘The Little Three’: Universal, Colombia

and United Artists. Historically the term

‘studio system’ refers to the dominance of these major studios in producing, distributing and

exhibiting films. The term is often applied to the ‘Golden Age of Hollywood’ (late 1920s to the

early 1960s), however, many of the studios’ beginnings came around much earlier.

Find out the following about at least three of the studios:

THE MAIN PLAYERS

Who set the studio up? Include a mini biography (where they came from, when

they were born, how they got into the film

business etc…)

THE STUDIO’S HISTORY

When the studio was founded, whether or

not it started off with the same company

name, how the studio expanded and what

early successes/failures they encountered.

HOW THE STUDIO WORKED

Where were they based? Who did they

employ? How did they produce, distributeand exhibit their films?

THE STUDIO TODAY Investigate how the studio has fared over

the years. Do they still exist? Have they


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been

the y

the fi

Beginnings:Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor was an early investor in nickelodeons. He saw a market for

making films for the middle classes. Cinema was largely seen as working class entertainment in

the early 20th century and Zukor saw an opportunity. Working with partners Daniel and Charles

Frohman, he planned to make feature length films starring

famous theatre actors of the time (this would appeal to the

theatre going middle classes). This ambition led to the founding

of ‘Famous Players Film Company’ in 1912. By mid-1913, the

company had produced five films.

During this time another producer, Jesse L Lasky, opened Lasky

Feature Play Company. Lasky hired Cecil B. De Mille as a director

who made ‘The Squaw Man’ – Hollywood’s first ever feature film.

In 1914 both Zukor and Lasky released their films throughParamount Pictures Corporation –

a company formed by cinema owner, W.W. Hodkinson. Paramount was the first successful

nation-wide distributor.

Vertical Integration:In 1916, Zukor merged his company with Lasky’s and Paramount. Lasky and Zukor

bought out Hodkinson and now had a film studio which could not only produce their

own films but also distribute them nationwide and exhibit them in cinemas they owned.

This move made Paramount Pictures (or Famous Players-Lasky Corporation as it was

then known) one of the most dominant studios in the USA.

This dominance of the exhibition market was only challenged by ‘First National’ – amerger of 26 of the biggest first-run cinema chains in the US. They controlled over 600

cinemas with more than 200 being first-run houses. This power

prompted Zukor to invest $10 million in building his own chain

of first run cinemas.

Zukor believed in the power and pull of stars so he signed many

of the leading early stars such as Mary Pickford, Douglas

Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson and Rudolph Valentino. Paramount

had many of these important stars exclusively on their booksand this created demand for Paramount’s films.

THE FACTS:

• Founded in 1912 as Famous Players Film

Company by Hungarian born Adolph Zukor

• Paramount Pictures was a start-up company

founded in 1914 and Zukor (along with

another producer – Jesse L. Lasky) released

his film through this company.• In 1916, Zukor merged his Famous Players

with the Lasky company and Paramount


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Block Booking:

The demand for Paramount’s films meant that Zukor could introduce something referred

to as ‘block booking’. This meant that when an exhibitor (not owned by Paramount)

wanted to show a particular star’s film made by Paramount, they had to buy about

another 20 productions by Paramount to show in their cinema. In some extreme cases,

cinemas were made to buy a year’s worth of other Paramount productions. This system

gave Paramount an edge on the market. Block booking meant the studio (and other

studios who started to employ this method) could make a lot of low budget (and usually

low quality) films and be sure that they would be seen nationwide. Studio owned cinema

chains were exempt from block booking! This practice didn’t last forever – a legal case

was mounted in 1940 to stop the monopolization of the movie industry.

Paramount’s cinema chain (Publix Theatres Corporation) acquired the Balaban and Katzchain in 1926. Balaban and Katz had developed the ‘Wonder Theater’ concept in 1918

Chicago. These cinemas were luxurious and looked spectacular. Publix went on to

expand on this concept by building more.

The 30s and Beyond:

Zukor and Paramount did not fare so well in America’s great depression. Zukor was

expanding the company beyond its means which led to the company going intoreceivership (when a company in financial difficulty is held by a receiver – a person

responsible for the future of the company). Zukor was kept on but not as the president –

he became chairman of the board. Paramount-Publix went bankrupt in 1935 but Zukor

reorganized the company as Paramount Pictures, Inc and brought them out of

bankruptcy in 1936.

Paramount Pictures is still in existence today and continues to distribute commercially

successful films such as Transformers, the Mission: Impossible series, the Star Trek

films and the Paranormal Activity franchise.


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E(am)le G"estions 2or >early%inema/

Discuss how one of the major American film studios established itself within the

film industry. You should refer to production, distribution and exhibition. [30]

How important were technological factors in enabling the production, distribution

and exhibition of the early films of the Lumiere brothers? [30]

Choose two films that were noted as significant in early cinema history. Explain

why the two films you have chosen are significant. [30]

Why did the American film industry eventually base itself in Hollywood? [30]

revision booklet early cinema

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